Brigadier Surinder Singh, then commanding officer of the Kargil-based 121 Infantry Brigade, was sacked for failing to detect the intruders

Brigadier Surinder Singh - who was commanding the Kargil-based 121 Infantry Brigade before the Kargil intrusion - has rubbished claims that General Pervez Musharraf, the then army chief of Pakistan, had flown across the LoC and travelled 11km into the Indian side weeks before the conflict.

Brig Singh on Sunday said the claim was a "cheap publicity stunt" by former Pakistan Army officers.

Sacked for his alleged failure to report enemy intrusions in Kargil in time, Brig Singh is fighting a legal battle to save his honour. He claims the army knew about the intrusion and that he had briefed the then army chief Gen V.P. Malik.

"I had briefed the visiting Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Gen V.P. Malik, about the developments in the sector spreading across Mushkoh and Batalik under me," he said.

On Musharraf, he said it was not possible for anyone to fly into India and spend a night without even a hint to the Indian Army.

"A chopper requires a helipad to land. Where did Musharraf land after 'flying' into India? Any helicopter is always visible or heard. It could have not remained invisible had Musharraf dared the misadventure," Brig. Singh said.

Retired Pakistan Army Colonel Ashfaq Hussain recently blamed Musharraf for an unwarranted aggression against India in Kargil. He claimed Musharraf flew across the LoC and spent a night on the Indian side weeks before hostilities broke out.

Brig Singh claimed his superior, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 3 Infantry Division, Maj-Gen V.S. Budhwar, was also present when he briefed Gen Malik.

An Indian artillery gun pounds Pakistani positions during the Kargil War in 1999

"I had specifically briefed Gen Malik that the threat perception of intrusion along the Line of Control (LoC) had increased. I had sought additional resources to meet any suspected challenge from the other side of the border," he said.

Further, Brig Singh said on August 25, 1998, he had briefed Gen Malik warning that the enemy was active along the LoC and warned him about suspected "incursions or intrusions" at several points.

Based on his fears, he "urgently" sought additional resources, including weapon-locating radar systems, to detect and determine enemy artillery fire, remotely controlled vehicles to recce the LoC and winter equipment for troops patrolling at "inhospitable heights".

Later, he claimed to have sent a letter to Maj-Gen Budhwar reiterating his fears. The GOC did not consider the outlined threat perceptions seriously, he said, adding that he then wrote to the army chief through the mechanism of Redressal of Grievances (ROG).

Officer's move

Brig Singh said he would move the Punjab and Haryana High Court for transferring the case filed by him against his dismissal from the army to any bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) where Lt-Gen N.S. Brar (retd) is not a member.

Brig Singh claimed Lt-Gen Brar was a friend and regimental associate of Brig Devinder Singh, a brigade commander in an adjoining sector during the conflict.

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Ex-generals shoot down Singh claim

The Indian Army was caught completely
off-guard by Pakistan Army regulars who occupied around 120 posts on the
LoC leading to the Kargil War, former army officers have said.

They spoke in
response to Brig Surinder Singh's claim that he had briefed the then
army chief about the infiltrations months before they were detected in
May 1999.

"He is a liar. He has an axe to grind with the army," said
Maj-Gen (retd) Sheru Thapliyal, then a brigadier and military assistant
to Gen Malik, who had attended the briefing mentioned by Brig Singh.

He
said there was no mention of intrusions in the briefing, and that it was a
routine meeting with no mention of any intrusion or infiltration.

Lt-Gen
(retd) Shankar Prasad also trashed the brigadier's remarks. He said it
was an irresponsible statement to make and that the issues about the
1999 conflict had been discussed at length by the Kargil Review
Committee.

Brig Singh had also gone to court. As far as the Indian
government is concerned the matter stands resolved. There was no such
input with Gen Malik about incursions on the LoC, he said.

Another
officer, Maj-Gen (retd) G.D. Bakshi, who was in the directorate of
military operations during the Kargil War, also claimed India had no
knowledge about the infiltrations as late as May 3, 1999.